Residency rule, pay stall search for Schenectady engineer

Residency requirement, salary listing are making it harder for Schenectady to fill engineer post

Published 9:10 pm, Wednesday, February 8, 2012

SCHENECTADY — City officials had the best of intentions when deciding to finally enforce a law that requires new employees to live in Schenectady.

Now they're having trouble with the first big job that needs filling — city engineer.

In part, that's because it only pays up to $95,000 a year, which is low for experienced engineers.

Meanwhile, the top candidate lives outside the county and said he wouldn't move his family to Schenectady for the job.

The city stopped abiding by the 1988 residency rule after the election in 2003 of Mayor Brian U. Stratton, who believed that in light of the city's fiscal and law enforcement challenges that attracting employees with experience was more important than hiring Schenectady residents.

But Mayor Gary McCarthy has made bringing new homeowners to the city a priority for his new administration — and he is requiring that new employees live in the city or move into Schenectady within six months of taking the job. Employees can get waivers with approval from a five-person residency board.

In Albany, the Common Council in 2009 required that all commissioners live in the city. As a result, Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff moved in from Clifton Park.

More Information

Schenectady's director of operations, William Winkler, who is heading up the engineer search, said he sees a place for residency requirements, but "there are certain titles, like the city engineer, that requires a professional engineer's license, where there should be room for exception."

City Council President Denise Brucker said there could be circumstances when a candidate search is exhausted and an employee hired with the understanding that a waiver would likely follow.

"But what's the line for an exhaustive search? That's not something we've established yet," Brucker said.

McCarthy is confident he's going to find an engineer willing to move. He already did so with the new building inspector, Eric Schilling, who started Monday.

"I see value in the city, I see a bright future. But to get to that goal I want people to live in the city," the mayor said Wednesday.

The mayor is planning to have city managers available at up to 10 open houses on President's Day weekend as part of a new city partnership with area real estate agents.

But there's one problem: some of the city's department heads, in office before the new administration, do not live there. Among them are Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett, Police Chief Mark Chaires and Fire Chief Michael Della Rocco.

McCarthy said that perhaps the open houses will convince his own employees to change their minds.